| There are many Orange County Public Schools | | | | addressed. Among them: -All students have the |
| systems throughout the nation. There are | | | | right to reading instruction that enables |
| Orange Counties in Virginia, North Carolina, | | | | them to meet high standards -A Comprehensive |
| California, and Florida to name a few. Issues | | | | Reading Program includes these six elements: |
| and challenges may vary from Orange County | | | | (1) Phonemic and phonological awareness (2) |
| Schools to Orange County Schools, but the | | | | Systematic phonics (3) Vocabulary and |
| basic drive is the same - to give students | | | | background knowledge (4) Fluency (5) |
| the best quality education possible. Orange | | | | Comprehension (6) Motivation -Necessary |
| County Schools in Orlando are no exception. | | | | criteria for increasing reading achievement: |
| School choice, as mandated by the United | | | | (1) Minimum of 90 minutes of protected time |
| States Court of Appeals for the Fifth | | | | for reading instruction to close the gap (2) |
| Circuit, is present throughout these Orange | | | | Smaller class sizes for intervention (15 to |
| County Schools. Improvements in reading | | | | 20 students per class) to individualize and |
| education and reading fluency are also hot | | | | adjust instruction for all students (3) |
| topics. It may be hard to believe that a | | | | Technology in classrooms to create a scope |
| school district could raise the reading | | | | and sequence of individualized instruction |
| scores of struggling students by as much as | | | | for all students (4) Commitment, by |
| two grade levels each year, but Orange County | | | | administrators, to learning about reading |
| Schools are doing just that. The most | | | | process instruction and what it looks like in |
| challenging group of students to bring up to | | | | a successful classroom (5) Continual |
| grade level are students in middle and upper | | | | professional development for intervention |
| grades. These Orange County Schools students | | | | program teachers In accordance with a 1970 |
| are a lot less motivated, and have even lost | | | | court order enacted by the United States |
| a lot of their trust in the learning process, | | | | Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, |
| believing they are too dumb to learn. Many | | | | Orange County Schools offers its students and |
| educators have come to realize that it's | | | | parents many avenues of school choice. They |
| going to take extreme measures to change such | | | | are: Majority to Minority Transfers No Child |
| these students' lives. Interventions are | | | | Left Behind Opportunity Scholarship |
| required at all levels - from the | | | | Exceptional Education Program Placement McKay |
| superintendent's office on down to the humble | | | | Scholarship Transfer Academic Transfer |
| classroom. One Orange County Schools | | | | Childcare Transfer Graduation Transfer Magnet |
| intervention that has been put into place - | | | | Transfer Medical Transfer Mid-Year Transfer |
| with amazing results - is the Orange County | | | | Psychological Transfer School Personnel |
| Literacy Project. In addition, a recent | | | | Transfer Sibling Transfer Work-Related |
| report was solicited by Orange County Schools | | | | Transfer For more information on the |
| from the Phyllis C. Hunter Consulting Firm. | | | | requirements to make any of these types of |
| The firm recently presented an evaluation of | | | | transfers, visit the Orange County Schools |
| the Orange County Schools, and how the | | | | district website. |
| district can best improve its reading | | | | |
| instruction. The report, entitled "Reading | | | | Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools |
| Leadership in a Standards-based Reform", | | | | K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all |
| covered numerous aspects that need to be | | | | U.S. public and private K-12 schools. |